Flurries in our forecast: 'The Snow Queen' arrives at the New Rep

New Rep’s former artistic director Rick Lombardo worked to adapt this classic Hans Christian Andersen tale for the stage.

By Alexander Stevens/Daily News Correspondent

The family musical that’s headed to the New Repertory Theatre in Watertown, Nov. 28 to Dec. 20, is called “The Snow Queen,” but the creators could have opted for a different title: “The Other ‘Frozen.’ ”

So it’s not surprising that when the creators of “The Snow Queen” – Rick Lombardo and Kirsten Brandt (book and lyrics), Haddon Kime (music and lyrics) – first heard that Disney was working on a similar project, their hearts sank. At the time, they were in the midst of a writing retreat in Carmel, California, trying to hash out Act I of their musical. News that the Disney empire had a grip on the same project prompted a predictable reaction: As far as their version was concerned, perhaps they should, well, let it go.

“We thought, ‘That’s it; we’re done,’ ” remembers Lombardo, a former artistic director at New Rep. “We considered stopping, but we thought we had a strong idea for the show, so let’s continue. Then we saw the first trailer for ‘Frozen’ on Youtube. It was about two sisters and one of them becomes the Snow Queen, and it had a talking snowman. And we realized [Disney’s version] was very different from ours and that we should continue.”

The two projects were so cosmically intertwined that they ended opening on the same weekend two years ago, “The Snow Queen” at San Jose Repertory Theatre (where Lombardo was then artistic director), “Frozen” in movie theaters.

But “The Snow Queen” has fared quite nicely as well. Last year, the creators brought the show to the New York Musical Theatre Festival in 2014, where it won Excellence in Overall Design. It also landed the coveted Publishing Award, which made the play available to theater companies across the country, and beyond. Since the New York performances, there have been about a dozen professional productions of the show, including the upcoming run at New Rep.

“Frozen” fans will note the many differences between the Disney movie and “The Snow Queen.” The stage musical stays far truer to the Andersen story.

“Snow Queen” follows BFFs Gerda and Kai. When Kai falls under the influence of the Snow Queen – three kisses from her and he’s dead – Gerda sets out on a quest to rescue him. It’s a journey that soon sends her down the rabbit hole, as she meets a menagerie of colorful characters along the way.

“It’s a wild, wild ride,” says Lombardo. “The fairy tale is very fantastical. We became intrigued by the challenge [of staging it]. Over the years, this story has proven to be very difficult to adapt. It’s episodic and parts of it are very surreal. But those were also the things that attracted Kirsten and I to the story.”

From the start, Brandt and Lombardo viewed “The Snow Queen” as a potential alternative to the annual production of “Christmas Carol” they staged at San Jose Rep – “something that would be good for the holiday season and multiple generations of viewers,” says Lombardo.

It was well-received when it premiered at San Jose Rep in 2013. It also went well in New York, although the creative team agreed with some of the criticism, and re-worked the musical after that run.

But one thing that hasn’t changed is the inspiration for this adaptation. Soon after Lombardo, Brandt and Kime began working on the project, they realized they each had one child – a daughter – and those daughters became a kind of muse for the project.

“We each saw our own daughter in Gerta,” says Lombardo. “In many ways, the musical is about the things that young girls face in life.”

Highlights of the show include a rock anthem called “Gone,” sung by Gerta after Kai disappears. Audiences have also responded to “Kiss You to Death,” sung by the Snow Queen to Kai.

But there’s no “Let It Go.”

Still, the creative team could take credit for “great minds thinking alike” after they wrote the lyrics for “Flying.” In the Act I finale of “Snow Queen,” the crow sings to Gerta, “You’ve got learn to let go before you can learn how to fly.”

Perhaps that advice echoed back to Lombardo in a timely fashion. Soon after “The Snow Queen” debuted at San Jose Rep, the theater company declared bankruptcy, and Lombardo was without a job. His decision to bring the musical to New York was a leap of faith. It paid off.

Lombardo certainly mourned the loss of the Rep, but, asked if his feelings about “Snow Queen” may be forever tarnished by the almost simultaneous closing of San Jose Rep, Lombardo responds, “In many ways, ‘Snow Queen’ is a gift and a cherished memory from San Jose. It’s a little bittersweet, but anytime I work on the show, I think of all the wonderful cast members, crew and designers who made it possible.”

And now he has landed in Atlanta, where he is the chair of the department of Theatre and Performance Studies at Kennesaw State University. Added bonus: Haddon Kime, Lombardo’s longtime musical collaborator, had relocated to Atlanta years earlier.

“We’re already talking about our next musical,” says Lombardo.

It would be wild if the folks at Disney were dreaming the same dream, whatever that is. But in the end, that might not be a bad thing. Lombardo believes that, bottom line, “Frozen” was more of a boost than a bane.

“In the long run, ‘Frozen’ was a help,” he says. “I think it created a hunger for stories based on ‘The Snow Queen.’ So,” he adds, light-heartedly, “I bow down to Disney and thank them.”

“The Snow Queen”

WHEN: Nov. 28-Dec. 20

WHERE: Arsenal Center for the Arts,Watertown

TICKETS: $30 - $59

INFO: 617-923-8487; www.newrep.org

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